ASUS P5E3 Deluxe Overclocking: DDR3 Takes Front Stage
by Kris Boughton on November 20, 2007 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Test Setup and Overclocking Results
We decided to make our first overclocking results available using a Q6600 quad-core as we feel this chip is great for the mainstream desktop performance crowd and is widely available at an attractive price. We chose high performance DDR3 in order to highlight the board's memory performance capabilities. Because testing was completed using a 32-bit operating system, we decided to limit ourselves to a maximum of 2GB memory for our initial results. Future testing on this board, including tests run using Windows Vista 64-bit, will utilize up to 4GB of the same DDR3 memory.
We used water-cooling in place of typical air-cooling. This assured us that performance limitations due to excessive CPU temperatures would not be a problem during multiple testing runs. Pushing a 65nm quad-core past 3.6GHz requires a robust cooling system in order to maintain system stability during periods of heavy benchmarking. Furthermore, our cooling system makes use of redundant components where possible to account for the potential failure of critical cooling components (i.e. two pumps, etc).
Standard benchmarks included 3DMark06 (at the default 1280x1024 resolution) for testing overall graphics performance and Super PI 32M for combined processor/memory testing as well as CineBench10 and WinRAR 3.70 (a great way to quickly measure memory system performance). We utilized EVEREST 4.20 extensively in the collection and analysis of synthetic memory performance benchmarks (memory read and overall memory latency).
With the motherboard picked out all we had left to do was choose a pair of 1GB DDR3 modules. We decided on a pair (2x1024MB) of OCZ DDR3 PC3-14400 (DDR-1800) Platinum Edition modules, which proved to be tremendously capable across an amazing range of frequencies and timings. This allowed us the flexibility we needed to perform direct performance caparisons at legacy DDR2 speeds as well as the overclocking headroom we craved. Cool to the touch during even the most intense benchmarking session and exceptionally responsive to voltage on the test bench, these modules are great choices for those looking to overclock.
Now that we have looked at our test setup and gone over a few of the ways that we intend on measuring our system's performance, let us explore the ASUS P5E3 Deluxe BIOS options.
| ASUS P5E3 Deluxe Overclocking Testbed |
|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-core, 2.4GHz, 8MB Unified Cache, 9x Multiplier, 1066FSB |
| CPU Voltage | 1.2750v Stock |
| Cooling | D-tek FuZion CPU water block, EK FC8800-GTX/Ultra full coverage GPU block, Thermochill PA120.3 radiator, dual Laing D5 pumps in series, 1/2" ID (3/4" OD) Tygon tubing, 6x Yate Loon D12SM-12 120x25mm fans @ 12v in push/pull configuration |
| Power Supply | Seasonic 600W |
| Memory | OCZ DDR3 PC3-14400 (DDR-1800) Platinum Edition |
| Memory Settings | 4-4-4-12 (DDR-1066) to 8-8-8-15 (DDR-1940) |
| Video Cards | MSI 8800 Ultra (660/1050) |
| Video Drivers | NVIDIA 164.09 (beta) |
| Hard Drive | 2x Western Digital 10K RPM 74GB SATA 3/Gbps 8MB Buffer (RAID 0) |
| Optical Drives | 2x Plextor PX-755A |
| Case | Lian-Li PC-G70B |
| BIOS | ASUS 0601 |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
We decided to make our first overclocking results available using a Q6600 quad-core as we feel this chip is great for the mainstream desktop performance crowd and is widely available at an attractive price. We chose high performance DDR3 in order to highlight the board's memory performance capabilities. Because testing was completed using a 32-bit operating system, we decided to limit ourselves to a maximum of 2GB memory for our initial results. Future testing on this board, including tests run using Windows Vista 64-bit, will utilize up to 4GB of the same DDR3 memory.
We used water-cooling in place of typical air-cooling. This assured us that performance limitations due to excessive CPU temperatures would not be a problem during multiple testing runs. Pushing a 65nm quad-core past 3.6GHz requires a robust cooling system in order to maintain system stability during periods of heavy benchmarking. Furthermore, our cooling system makes use of redundant components where possible to account for the potential failure of critical cooling components (i.e. two pumps, etc).
Standard benchmarks included 3DMark06 (at the default 1280x1024 resolution) for testing overall graphics performance and Super PI 32M for combined processor/memory testing as well as CineBench10 and WinRAR 3.70 (a great way to quickly measure memory system performance). We utilized EVEREST 4.20 extensively in the collection and analysis of synthetic memory performance benchmarks (memory read and overall memory latency).
With the motherboard picked out all we had left to do was choose a pair of 1GB DDR3 modules. We decided on a pair (2x1024MB) of OCZ DDR3 PC3-14400 (DDR-1800) Platinum Edition modules, which proved to be tremendously capable across an amazing range of frequencies and timings. This allowed us the flexibility we needed to perform direct performance caparisons at legacy DDR2 speeds as well as the overclocking headroom we craved. Cool to the touch during even the most intense benchmarking session and exceptionally responsive to voltage on the test bench, these modules are great choices for those looking to overclock.
Now that we have looked at our test setup and gone over a few of the ways that we intend on measuring our system's performance, let us explore the ASUS P5E3 Deluxe BIOS options.
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retrospooty - Friday, November 23, 2007 - link
I should have added that beyond the current Intel roadmap, they are looking at Rambus XDR for future CPU's. DDR and its minor generational bumps arent going to cut it for long. DDR4 and DDR5 arent much better, higher speeds and higher latencies all the way = very minor performance increases.I really wouldnt advise anyone, even the enthusiests to get DDR3 now, in 1 more year Nehalem will be out with 3 channel DDR and it will likely be faster, or lower latency and cheaper than current DDR3 is, and anyone who fancies themselves and "enthusiest" will be upgrading again at that point, because 3 channel DDR3 on top of Nehalems internal memory controller WILL give a notable performance increase.
jkostans - Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - link
Spending an extra $50-100 on a GPU is still way more effective than spending the $200-300 more for DDR3. The only games that struggle with framerate on a modern mid-high end system are mostly GPU and somewhat CPU dependent. You get about the least bang for your buck with memory, but at the bleeding edge of performance I guess money is not a barrier.TA152H - Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - link
Another way to look at it is, would you rather have 1 GB of DDR3 or 2 GB of DDR2? They cost roughly the same.I'd rather have the 1 GB, since I can add more memory later. If you end up with DDR2, your system is forever degraded by inferior memory. You can't add it later unless you get a new motherboard. Besides, faster memory makes everything run faster, more memory only makes things run faster if you have to page (pretty much, I know Microsoft steals memory for caching, but that's a mixed bag anyway). Also, more memory wants more power.
I can already hear the argument from people saying that you can get 1 GB of DDR2 as well, and still realize a cost saving. It's a valid point, but at 1 GB the cost difference isn't that great, and I think the performance, and future upgradeability still make DDR3 attractive for some people.
LoneWolf15 - Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - link
Another way to look at it is, would you rather have 4GB of high-performance DDR2 for $150 (or cheaper, my 4GB of Crucial Ballistix cost me $140 this summer and is cheaper yet now), or 2GB of DDR3 for $200?
The industry must really love folks like you, who buy into the marketing hype. DDR2 is far from inferior, or Intel wouldn't have been using it all this time, and saying your system will be "forever degraded" is ridiculous tripe.
DDR3 has more bandwidth, but isn't necessarily "faster" as it is higher latency. That $150 DDR2 I mentioned has a CAS latency of 4; the $200 2GB DDR3 has a CAS latency of 7. DDR3 will only be attractive once it gains market share, lowering its price. What with enough P35 boards and some X38 boards still supporting DDR2, there is no reason to switch.
TA152H - Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - link
DDR3 is faster, if you can't accept that much, you aren't worth arguing with. DDR2 is inferior, but it's cheaper.DDR2 was not inferior until DDR3 came out. Inferior is a relative term, there has to be something better. Is English not your first language?
natebsi - Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - link
Sheesh. Personal attack much?TA152H - Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - link
Actually, you don't think his rant was a personal attack? If you don't agree with some people, you are just listening to marketing hype, or don't understand this or that. Instead of realizing there are reasons for both DDR2 (cost and compatibility) and DDR3 (everything else), you get people who accuse you of not understanding anything, and just being part of some company's marketing machine. It's so uneducated and insulting, it warrants something of the same kind back.Anyone that thinks DDR3 is completely useless, even now, is an idiot. This type of person is not worth arguing with. They are both useful, right now, and the arguments should really be about the gray areas where they begin to overlap. I might think DDR3's area is a little bigger than most, but at least I recognize that there are many people that are better off with DDR2. By the same token, I expect people to have at least basic intelligence and recognize there are areas where DDR3 makes more sense, even now. Pure performance always has a place, especially when it costs only $500, or less, more.
aeternitas - Sunday, December 9, 2007 - link
Grats on being the article clown.yyrkoon - Thursday, November 22, 2007 - link
I think the point if entirely lost on you.First, you can for instance get the same overclocks from DDR2 memory(at least from what I've seen here, because even my Promos 800 sticks can hit 1:1 475Mhz FSB which is 10Mhz faster than what I saw in the benches here).
Secondly, a system with 4GB of DDR2 vs 1-2GB of DDR3 *will* be more responsive. You can argue about it all you want, until you're blue in the face, and the only thing you will prove is that you have no actual hands on experience. Yes, this is even on a system with a 32BIT OS.
Thirdly, remember all the discussion a while back about AMD systems not performing any better than the Intel C2D systems despite having faster memory capabilities?
Lastly, even the writer of this article said the differences between the DDR2, and DDR3 system was barely a whisper . . .
But, you're right, anyone claiming that DDR3 RIGHT NOW is useless is an idiot, because they obviously can not see the eManhood effect capabilities here in saying that they paid X amount more for DDR3 vs DDR2. Anyone who has bragged about their $3000 usd set of car rims being much better than the stock rims that came with the car can surely see this point.
Griswold - Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - link
Oh yea I bet DDR3 makes perfect sense in your basement "lab" where you run your benchmarks all day long. Instead of yapping like a chihuaha with a superiority complex, you could instead just provide some realworld applications that make DDR3 not look like a waste of money right here, right now with todays hardware.Future proofing my ass, get a clue.